KUALA LUMPUR – Affin Hwang Asset Management Berhad (“Affin Hwang AM” or the “Company”) (formerly known as Hwang Investment Management Berhad), today announced the launch of two (2) investment solutions; namely the Affin Hwang Select Asia Pacific (ex Japan) Balanced Fund (“SAPBF”) and Affin Hwang Select Asia Pacific (ex Japan) Dividend Fund (“SAPDF”). SAPBF is a balanced fund that aims to provide growth and income opportunities through a diversified portfolio containing a balanced mixture of equities and fixed income instruments. Whereas, SAPDF is an equity fund that endeavours to provide investors with regular income and capital growth over the medium to long-term period.

Chan Ai Mei, Chief Marketing Officer of Affin Hwang AM said, “There is demand from the retail investors for dividend yielding solutions and solutions that can provide a consistent return over time with lower volatility. Investors are still seeking for returns on their investments and therefore are on the lookout for solutions that can capture the opportunities in the Asia Pacific region that are able to pay dividends regularly and consistently.”

She added that investing in today’s environment has become even more challenging as the world comes to grips with the end of Quantitative Easing 3 in US and focus remains on the US economic recovery. “Rising interest rates, concerns on global growth as well as the repercussions it might have on Emerging Markets would remain the key concern for investors going into 2015. Therefore we believe quality stock selection strategy remains key for us to deliver returns. We will continue to focus on markets that have undergone structural adjustments and present bottom-up opportunities,” she continued.

Ai Mei said, “There are over 700 funds1 in Malaysia of which less than 10% were invested in the Asia Pacific region. We believe there is market for the growth opportunities in Asia. As an asset management house, Affin Hwang AM’s conviction remains in Asia.” She added that the longer term discourse for investing in Asia and Emerging Asia are still valid. Growth still lies in the Asian region, being highly diversified. The East Asian countries such as Taiwan and South Korea are more leveraged to global economic growth. The Southeast Asian countries such as Indonesia and Philippines benefit from the demographic dividend which would drive domestic consumption and financial intermediation (such as credit growth, mortgages and credit cards) while India, Indonesia and Malaysia are undergoing reforms.

“Both SAPBF and SAPDF emulate the investment strategy of our existing funds with strong performance track record, namely the Affin Hwang Select Balanced Fund (“SBAF”) and Affin Hwang Select Dividend Fund (“SDF”). Both SBAF and SDF have garnered positive returns and outperformed its benchmark. Our funds are managed on an absolute return basis to deliver positive and consistent returns to investors over a 3 years rolling period,” she continued.

SAPBF will be investing in permitted investments through a balanced portfolio of equities and fixed income instruments focusing within the Asia Pacific (ex Japan) region. The Fund will invest a minimum of 40% to maximum 60% of the Fund’s Net Asset Value (“NAV”) in equities and minimum 40% to maximum 60% of the Fund’s NAV in fixed income instruments such as fixed income securities, money market instruments and deposits with Financial Institutions. The target return of the Fund over a 3 years rolling period is an annualised return of 8% to 10% per annum.

SAPDF will be investing primarily in dividend yielding equities and “future dividend leaders”. “Future dividend leaders” refers to equities that could, in the medium term (within 3 years or less), potentially start paying high dividends or substantially increasing existing dividend payout. SAPDF intends to adopt a two-part approach, where a portion of the Fund’s investments will be focused towards high dividend yielding equities (refer to dividend yields that are above market average) whereas the other portion will be invested in the “future dividend leaders”. The Fund will be focusing its investments within the Asia Pacific (ex Japan) region. The target return of the Fund over a 3 years rolling period is an annualised return of 10% to 12% per annum.

SAPBF is suitable for investors who seek medium to long-term capital growth and regular income distribution, while SAPDF is suitable for investors who seek medium to long-term capital growth and regular income distribution and have moderate risk tolerance.

Both SAPBF and SAPDF are available for subscription from 8 December 2014 onwards with an initial offer price of RM0.50 per Unit. The initial investment for the Fund is RM1,000 and additional investment is RM100.